Hospitals and other health care facilities have long struggled with hand hygiene as one of the most important tools in fighting the spread of infection. With the outbreak of SARS in 2003 and the H1N1 flu outbreak in Mexico in 2009, there has been an increased awareness of hand hygiene around the world, not just in health care, food processing, and other environments involving high risk of infection, but also in environments where hand hygiene has not traditionally been emphasized as a public health and safety issue.
Where a hand hygiene policy has been formulated for employees or other users of a facility, it must be communicated and enforced. Monitoring compliance with the policy allows administrators to target their communication and enforcement efforts and reduce costs associated with non-compliance.